Hello everyone, and welcome to Comments of the Week. Before we get to the comments, let’s take a look at what was covered on Seoulbeats these last few days:
In music, we reviewed f(x)‘s latest album, 4 Walls, and the music video of the same name, as well as IU‘s comeback with “Twenty-Three” from her latest mini-album, Chat-shire. There was also the return of N. Flying with “Lonely.”
Lastly, in SB Dance Exchange, we debated the pros and cons of odd and even formations.
Also related to music, Johnelle was able to go to Epik High‘s concert in Hawaii, and told us her experience.
In socio-cultural articles for the week, Chelsea talked about the presence and perception of violence in male K-pop music videos, and then discussed Jonghyun‘s latest tweet showing his political inclinations, this time about
There was also the recap of Best of Weekly Music Shows.
Meanwhile, in drama, we covered the first 6 episodes of The Village: Achiara’s Secret.
As we head into colder weather, this week’s For Your Viewing Pleasure was understandably about the spreads featuring coats.
SB Mixtape covered some of our favorite spooky tunes for Halloween, and the Roundtables focused on what makes a good live performance and what the writers would dress up for in a K-pop themed Halloween party.
In The Sunday Social, we asked for your first K-pop concert experience.
Finally, you can get a briefing of the highlights from this weeks SB Week in Review.
Here are some of our favorite comments of the week:
Dmitri Sackor on Down the Rabbit Hole With IU’s Chat-shire
I must commend her. In an industry, where a girl’s rep can be destroyed as easy as it is to rip paper, she is still going strong or may I say even stronger. If idol is a term that can be outgrown, then IU has definitely outgrown if. I wish her and her album great success
NineDaysQueen on SB Dance Exchange #2: Odd vs. Even
Visually odd numbers just look better because of the centre position. It gives you a point to focus on and it just looks really nice with one person in the centre with everyone doing symmetrical movements around them.
That being said, even numbered groups allow for some very interesting choreography. You can have partner dances and interactions evenly between members. That can be just as aesthetically pleasing as any large group dance with odd numbers.
Nate Broadus on When Boys In Love Turn Violent
I’ve often been irritated. I’ve often been angry. I’ve often wanted to pick up a bat or a golf club and go to town on some windows or maybe a piano. But I don’t do it — for one very simple, easy to understand reason.
THEY ARREST YOU FOR THAT SHIT.
Do you have to smash something because a girl blew you off? I’ve been blown off before. Go get a taco or something. Throw some darts — hell, throw a football around for Christ’s sake.
I’m glad Kpop is just a genre and not an alternate dimension. Otherwise the world would be filled with smashed crap and a few million people huddled in corners on the verge of tears.
bigmamat on When Boys In Love Turn Violent
Let’s get this straight from the beginning. Women in real life are not “just as violent toward men”. Men get the booby prize for this one. In some countries they are the 1# cause of death for women. Can women get away with being violent toward men even in music videos? Evidently not scott free based on the reaction to Taylor Swift‘s video Bad Blood or Rihanna‘s Bitch Better Have My Money. I remember a few hundred years ago the Dixie Chicks took some heat for writing a song about killing . There is a double standard operating here and it does inform us that men act out their frustrations with violence and women with deceit. It’s fine to be a passive aggressive bitch but not an actual aggressive bitch.
The question is do pop culture products inform and influence enough for their depictions of violence to be damaging and/or are they a subtle “reinforcement” of these ideas? That’s a good question. I’d like to think that most themes or ideas that make their way into the popular culture get there as a “reflection” of ideas not a “driver”. If you’ve watched any kpop videos at all there isn’t much of anything “real” about any of them. While a closer look at Korean culture in general shows that it is a deeply misogynistic society. Gender roles are a lot more clearly defined there as opposed to many western countries. And while the government plays lip service to equality issues and passes laws they have no intention of enforcing Korea remains low on the list for developed countries with opportunities and rights for women. Just in case none of you kpop fans have noticed.
That’s all for this week! As always, thank you for reading and commenting!
(Images via Grazia, SM Entertainment, JYP Entertainment, Leon Entertainment, BigHit Entertainment)
